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January 7-April 9, 1942 - World War II: Allied forces conduct the defense of Bataan
January 31-February 15, 1942 - World War II: The Japanese win the Battle of Singapore
February 27, 1942 - World War II: The Allies are defeated at the Battle of the Java Sea
March 31-April 10 - World War II: Japanese forces conduct the Indian Ocean Raid
April 18, 1942 - World War II: The planes of the Doolittle Raid bomb Japan
May 4-8, 1942 - World War II: US forces turn back the Japanese advance against Port Moresby at the Battle of the Coral Sea. Fought entirely by aircraft, it was first naval battle in which the opposing ships never sighted each other.
May 5-6, 1942 - World War II: US and Filipino forces surrender after the Battle of Corregidor
May 26-June 21, 1942 - World War II: General Erwin Rommel wins the Battle of Gazala
June 4-7, 1942 - World War II: The US Pacific Fleet defeats the Japanese at the Battle of Midway, turning the tide in the Pacific
July 1-27, 1942 - World War II: Axis forces are halted at the First Battle of El Alamein
August 7, 1942 - World War II: Allied forces go on the offensive in the Pacific by landing on Guadalcanal
August 9, 1942 - World War II: Japanese naval forces win the Battle of Savo Island
August 9-15, 1942 - World War II: The Royal Navy resupplies Malta during Operation Pedestal
August 19, 1942 - World War II: The Dieppe Raid ends in disaster for Allied troops
August 24-25, 1942 - World War II: Allied and Japanese forces fight the Battle of the Eastern Solomons
August 25-September 7, 1942 - World War II: Allied force on New Guinea win the Battle of Milne Bay
August 30-September 5, 1942 - World War II: British forces halt Field Marshal Erwin Rommel at the Battle of Alam Halfa
October 10/11, 1942 - World War II: Allied naval units win the Battle of Cape Esperance
October 23-November 4, 1942 - World War II: British forces under Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery begin the Second Battle of El Alamein
October 25-27, 1942 - World War II: American and Japanese naval forces fight the Battle of Santa Cruz
November 8-10, 1942 - World War II: American forces land in North Africa as part of Operation Torch
November 12-15, 1942 - World War II: Allied forces win the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
November 27, 1942 - World War II: The French fleet is scuttled at Toulon during Operation Lila
November 30, 1942 - World War II: Japanese forces win the Battle of Tassafaronga
January 29-30, 1943 - World War II: Japanese aircraft win the Battle of Rennell Island
February 19-25, 1943 - World War II: American troops area defeated at the Battle of Kasserine Pass
March 2-4, 1943 - World War II: Allied aircraft win the Battle of the Bismarck Sea
April 18, 1943 - World War II: Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed by Allied aircraft during Operation Vengeance
April 19-May 16, 1943 - World War II: The Germans suppress the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in Poland
May 17, 1943 - World War II: As part of Operation Chastise RAF bombers strike dams in Germany
July 9, 1943 - World War II: Allied forces begin Operation Husky and invade Sicily
August 17, 1943 - World War II: American bombers conduct the massive Schweinfurt-Regensburg Raid
September 3-9, 1943 - World War II: American and British forces land in Italy
September 26, 1943 - World War II: Australian commandoes conduct Operation Jaywick in Singapore Harbor
November 20-23, 1943 - World War II: American forces invade Tarawa
December 26, 1943 - World War II: British naval forces win the Battle of the North Cape
January 22, 1944 - World War II: Allied forces begin Operation Shingle and open the Battle of Anzio
January 31-February 3, 1944 - World War II: US troops fight the Battle of Kwajalein
February 17-May 18, 1944 - World War II: Allied forces fight and win the Battle of Monte Cassino
March 24/25, 1944 - World War II: Allied POWs begin the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III
June 4, 1944 - World War II: Allied forces capture Rome
June 4, 1944 - World War II: Allied naval forces capture U-505
June 6, 1944 - World War II: The invasion of France begins with Allied troops coming ashore in Normandy
June 15, 1944 - World War II: The Allied invasion of the Marianas begins with landings on Saipan
June 19-20, 1944 - World War II: The US Navy wins the Battle of the Philippine Sea
July 25-31, 1944 - World War II: Allied troops break out of Normandy during Operation Cobra
August 15, 1944 - World War II: Allied troops land in southern France as part of Operation Dragoon
August 25, 1944 - World War II: French forces liberate Paris
September 15-November 27, 1944 - World War II: Allied forces fight and win the Battle of Peleliu
September 17, 1944 - World War II: American and British paratroopers land in Holland as part of Operation Market-Garden
October 23-26, 1944 - World War II: US naval forces defeat the Japanese at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, opening the way for the invasion of the Philippines
December 16, 1944 - World War II: German forces launch a massive offensive in the Ardennes, beginning the Battle of the Bulge. It ends in a decisive Allied victory the following month
February 9, 1945 - World War II: HMS Venturer sinks U-864 in the only known battle where one submerged submarine sank another
February 19, 1945 - World War II: US Marines land on Iwo Jima
March 8, 1945 - World War II: US forces secure the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine
April 1, 1945 - World War II: Allied forces invade the island of Okinawa
April 7, 1945 - World War II: The battleship Yamato is sunk during Operation Ten-Go
April 16-19, 1945 - World War II: Soviet forces win the Battle of the Seelow Heights
April 29-May 8, 1945: World War II: Operations Manna & Chowhound deliver food to the starving population of the Netherlands
May 2, 1945 - World War II: Berlin falls to Soviet forces
May 7, 1945 - World War II: Nazi Germany surrenders to the Allies, ending the war in Europe
August 6, 1945 - World War II: The B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay drops the first atom bomb on the city of Hiroshima
September 2, 1945 - World War II: The Japanese surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri ending the war in the Pacific
December 19, 1946 - First Indochina War: Fighting begins between French and Viet Minh forces around Hanoi
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